When The Byrds started country-rock, we had no idea there would be such a thing. We were just trying to honor the music. We started listening to country radio. We went to Nudie's and got cowboy clothes.

Roger McGuinn

I always got a kick out of it when they called it the California Sound because it really came out of Liverpool and Greenwich Village.

kick always village sound

That's my favorite subject because it really levels the playing field for artists these days. You don't have to sell out to the record company. You don't have to get a five hundred thousand dollars, or whatever, and pay them back for the rest of your life to record a record.

rest back you life

Yes, basically, like you said, I'll work out a chord pattern and... by Roger McGuinn

Yes, basically, like you said, I'll work out a chord pattern and work out the lyrics over that.

like you said work

I think what makes the Byrds stand up all these years is the basis in folk music. Folk music, being a timeless art form, is the foundation of the Byrds. We were all from a folk background. We considered ourselves folk singers even when we strapped on electric instruments and dabbled in different things.

stand-up think music art

I think Wilco is going to definitely stand the test of time - no question - and Uncle Tupleo, and the whole No Depression scene, which is now alt-country. I think that's going to be around a long time.

long-time depression time long

The original Byrds were very much Beatles-influenced, and then we gradually got our own sound. We started mixing things together more.

own things sound together

I started playing guitar back in '56. I was a teenager, and guitars had just come in, and I had a thing for it and got one. Started learning lead breaks from songs, because that was the easiest thing to do at the time. I had the guitar for two years before I learned any chords. Really.

back guitar learning time

I love being on the sea and the rolling of the ship, and for me, it's not really happening until we get a little wave action going, I love that feeling.

feeling me sea love

To me, being in the big time is not that big of a deal. I've been there; I know what it is. It's exciting, but it's also a lot of work and pressure. I love sort of flying under the radar where we can play theaters and sell CD's on the Internet, and it's really kind of a cool time.

cool me work love

I've always considered myself a folk singer, even though we strapped on Rickenbacker guitars and played pretty loud.

singer pretty myself always

People have told me that other artists have been influenced by my music, and it's flattering. It's a wonderful thing.

me music wonderful people

I'm a huge fan of home recording. I think it levels the playing field. You don't need $100,000 to record a studio CD.

need think you home

I think the Internet is an awful lot like FM radio was when it broke out in the late '60s. It's kind of a wild and wily kind of format. They could play 20 songs in a row that had the word 'blue' in them, or whatever they wanted to do.

think internet late blue

I think Wilco is going to definitely stand the test of time - no question - and Uncle Tupelo, and the whole No Depression scene, which is now alt-country. I think that's going to be around a long time.

I didn't really enjoy reading until I married my wife and we began reading the Bible out loud to each other every day. I enjoy reading now, and there is a whole world of books out there to explore.

I got into computers back in the early '80s, so it was a natural progression of learning about e-mail in the mid-'80s and getting into the Internet when it opened up in the early '90s.

I love being a troubadour. I travel around the world with my wife and play little theaters. We have a ball.

I open all my concerts with 'My Back Pages,' written by Bob Dylan, and close them all with 'May the Road Rise to Meet You,' written by Roger McGuinn and Camilla McGuinn.

I think the good thing about the Internet is to give something away and to sell something else. Get a business model like that because the old brick and mortar record stores are falling apart, and the big record companies are collapsing under their own weight.

I'd like to be remembered as a keeper of the flame who kept traditional music alive, because I've been doing that twice as long as I was in the Byrds.